BMHS girls hoop team falls to Trumbull

Published 3:22 pm, Thursday, January 24, 2013

Jazmine Taylor dribbles the ball during a game against Trumbull Tuesday night.

Jazmine Taylor dribbles the ball during a game against Trumbull Tuesday night.

Photo: Andy Hutchison

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The Senators' Kayla Croswell prepares to shoot a basket during a game against Trumbull Tuesday night.

The Senators' Kayla Croswell prepares to shoot a basket during a game against Trumbull Tuesday night.

Photo: Andy Hutchison

BMHS girls hoop team falls to Trumbull

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McMahon's slim-at-best playoff hopes stood to take another hit when the Senators visited one of the FCIAC's best, Trumbull, Tuesday night.

And although the Senators lost 61-39, the team did show plenty of positive signs, giving the girls, at the very least, some positive vibes as the regular campaign winds down.

The host Eagles established an early lead behind some sharp shooting and improved to 12-1. McMahon fell to 2-11 and are clinging desperately to the chance to extend the winter into the playoff portion of the schedule. McMahon has to win six of its final seven games to get the necessary eight victories to compete in the state playoffs. Only two of those contests are against teams with losing records and several of the squads are battling for playoff positioning or to get into the FCIAC tourney.

The Senators were up to the challenge of fighting to the finish against a heavily favored opponent on Tuesday.

McMahon trailed throughout but never stopped battling regardless of the score on Tuesday. Down 44-16, the Senators put together a 7-0 run sparked by a Kayla Croswell 3-pointer. Croswell later swatted a pass away and dove to the floor to help her team get possession. During another example of hustle, Jazmine Taylor hit the floor to go for a loose ball, but the Eagles came away with it. A full court press, at times, worked and caused turnovers, but the Eagles never got fazed by the pressure.

"I thought we did everything we wanted to do. Trumbull just shot the ball well tonight," McElveen said. "I thought, as a team, they played well. Trumbull's just too strong for us. The girls never gave up. They kept playing."

"If we keep playing like the way we did tonight I feel like we might have a chance to make states," said Jazmine Taylor, who scored 13 points for McMahon. "I feel like we played hard as a team and we played together. We talked on defense. We didn't put our heads down and we played our game."

If nothing else, McElveen would like to get an upset victory or two along the way.

"If the girls play the rest of way like we did played tonight we could knock a couple of teams off," the coach said.

Trumbull Coach Steve Tobitsch noted that McMahon is a young squad, but saw some bright spots -- led by the play of Croswell and Taylor. "Mark does a great job - he always does. I love his energy. His girls are always well prepared," Tobitsch said. "I think they're going to get better as time goes on."

"They have good shooters and they know how to box out well," Taylor said. "They're hard to defend because they have shooters all around."

Leslie was proud of her team for applying the things the Senators have worked on in practice -- especially ball handling and boxing out.

McElveen may have liked the effort, but will be more satisfied if the team keeps it up. "We're very inconsistent," said the coach, adding that his team has looked sharp at times this year, only to have a letdown performance the next time out on the court. He is hoping the girls have some carry over from the Trumbull game. The team may not win too many games, but the Senators are focused on trying their best.

"We can definitely be a threat. We're determined to make sure we put up a fight -- and they're not going to get away easy with it," Leslie said.